The subject matter of the present invention relates generally to improved athletic shoes for various sports, such as track and field, football, baseball, basketball, tennis or the like, and particularly to such athletic shoes in which the upper portion of the shoe limits the motion of the portion of the foot rearwardly of the toes.
It is desirable to provide an athletic shoe with a toe upper section of a stretchable material to permit free movement of the toes and yet provide a comfortable and close fitting shoe. In contrast, to optimize the desired characteristics of the shoe, it is possible to provide a main body upper section rearwardly of the toes which is of a nonstretchable material so that movement of the rear portion of the foot is restricted. Consequently, undesired lateral motion of this portion of the foot during running is minimized and problems such as fatigue resulting from such motion are reduced. To further restrict movement of the ball of the foot, stabilizing members such as reinforcing strips can be positioned at the medial side of the shoe to distribute pressure from the laces forwardly and rearwardly of the ball of the foot. Another reinforcing member positioned on the other side of the shoe forwardly of the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint can also be provided to reduce undesired movement. The rigidifying and stabilizing effect of the shoe on the portion of the foot rearwardly of the toes can also be enhanced by way of improved lacing including staggered lace openings.
Conventional shoes have been made with an upper portion of differing materials. For example, the shoe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,488 of Johnson has a forward section of one material such as leather and a heel section of another material such as a synthetic fabric. However, in this prior shoe, the two upper sections are joined together approximately at the midpoint of the arch. Therefore, motion of the ball of a foot within this shoe is relatively unrestricted. Consequently, this shoe suffers from the disadvantages associated with shoes permitting undesired pronation of the foot rearwardly of the toes.
In another known shoe described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,880 of Kunzli, a one piece upper is provided with strips sewn along its sides. Each of these strips supports an eyelet ring for use in lacing the shoe so that reinforcing sections along the margins of the tongue opening are eliminated. Because of this one piece upper, this shoe has the drawback that no one material has all the characteristics necessary for an athletic shoe of best performance. In particular, it lacks a toe section of stretchable material as indicated above. In addition, it employs a relatively expensive construction in attaching eyelet rings to a shoe.
Staggered eyelets have been used in certain specialty shoes, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,420,239 and 716,528.
however, staggered arrangements of lace openings are not known to have been employed in athletic shoes to improve the fit of the shoe upper to limit pronation of a rear portion of a foot within the shoe, nor which cooperate with reinforcing members along the sides of the shoe for this purpose.